The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis

Oh Readers,

I still haven't gotten to see The Shunning, or read it. It is on my list that seems backed up of late. When I started reading this book I didn't have the connection that told me that THIS book The Fiddler was also by Beverly Lewis. What I did find, is that I didn't want to sit this book down to answer the phone or anything else. I found myself flying through the pages. My first pleasant surprise was that the main character we meet first is a young woman. One who plays both classical, and country fiddle/violin. I was instantly enthralled with the way this was written. Someone how has been around music can write it up properly like this.

Very quickly I was swept away with Amy Lee, or Amelia and her struggles in her life. Soon she is lost on the road in a horrible storm and winds up meeting Michael. One of the Plain people, who gives her shelter and friendship for the night. Michael is dealing with his own issues and yet he finds Amelia safe enough to show her his home and community.

Amelia is a Christian, but not Amish, of course. And Michael is getting on up there in age for having not committed to joining the Amish way of life completely. He is 25, yet hasn't figured out what he should do about his life. The ways of God, are they always the ways of the community? Even if it is an Amish community, or a Christian one?

The writing is picturesque and the story rather gentle. The ending gave me mixed emotions. Even so, it was a fast easy read, and different from the other Amish biased books I have read. I do appreciate how much of the  love of music was poured into this book.

Carol

This week, the  Christian Fiction Blog Alliance  is introducing  The Fiddler  Bethany House Publishers (April 10, 2012)  by  Beverly Lewis ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Beverly's first venture into adult fiction is the best-selling trilogy, The Heritage of Lancaster County, including The Shunning, a suspenseful saga of Katie Lapp, a young Amish woman drawn to the modern world by secrets from her past. The book is loosely based on the author's maternal grandmother, Ada Ranck Buchwalter, who left her Old Order Mennonite upbringing to marry a Bible College student. One Amish-country newspaper claimed Beverly's work to be "a primer on Lancaster County folklore" and offers "an insider's view of Amish life."

Booksellers across the country, and around the world, have spread the word of Beverly's tender tales of Plain country life. A clerk in a Virginia bookstore wrote, "Beverly's books have a compelling freshness and spark. You just don't run across writing like that every day. I hope she'll keep writing stories about the Plain people for a long, long time."

A member of the National League of American Pen Women, as well as a Distinguished Alumnus of Evangel University, Lewis has written over 80 books for children, youth, and adults, many of them award-winning. She and her husband, David, make their home in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and spending time with their family. They are also avid musicians and fiction "book worms."    

ABOUT THE BOOK

Come home to Hickory Hollow, Pennsylvania--the beloved setting where Beverly Lewis's celebrated Amish novels began--with new characters and new stories of drama, romance, and the ties that draw people together.

A wrong turn in a rainstorm leads Englisher Amelia Devries to Michael Hostetler--and the young Amishman's charming Old Order community of Hickory Hollow. Despite their very different backgrounds, Amelia and Michael both feel hemmed in by the expectations of others and struggle with how to find room for their own hopes. And what first seems to be a chance encounter might just change their lives forever.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Fiddler, go HERE.

Watch the book video:

GET your copy: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764209779